Improvement in the manufacture of gas from petroleum



G. W. WHEN. MANUFACTURE OF GAS FROM PETROLEUM.

No. 86,793.} Patented Feb. 9, 1869.-

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GEORGE W. WHEN OF- BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TC! URA- NIA 1:. WHEN, or SAME- PLACE Letters Patent No. 86,793, dated February 9, 1869 IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FROM PETROLEUM.

The Schedule referred. to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all. whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WHEN, in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State ofNew York, have invented a new and improved Apparatus for the Manufacture of Illuminating-Gas from the Basis of Crude Petroleum; and I do hereby declare that the followcognate materials, by the following process; that is to say- P I place in a furnace, properly constructed for the purpose, .which is shown in the drawings, at Figure 1, a retort.

; To enable others skilled inthe art to make and use' my invention, I willprocced to describe its construc- "tion and operation.

Iconstruct my furnace in any of the known forms by which I can produce an intense heat on the retort placed in it, said retort being constructed or divided into four longitudinal sections, the partitions beingso placed, and shortened and lengthened at either end, that, after the covers, Figures 4 and 5, are placed on the end of the retort, thechambers or sections shall be so connected that they lead from one into the other, with grooves on the lids, as shown at M, to fit over the partitions, that come flush with the end of retort, and a lip, to project a short distance inside its circumference, to make a tight joint, the four sections producing, in eifect, one retort of four times the length of the one described, and producing more gas, from a given amount of petroleum, than four separate retorts, connected to gether by pipes, in' one furnace.

The sectional view of the retort is shown at Figure 2.

The end views, at Figure 3 and Figure 6.

It is immaterial which end is the front or back, but we will call fig. 3 the'front, and fig. 6 the back.

On the front end, fig. 3, the partitions N O Q come flush with the end of the retort, while the partition P is from four to eight inches shorter, as the case may be, which makesa connectionbe'tween the two lower sections, marked E and F, when the cover, fig. 5, is placed and secured by a bar, marked K, fig. 1, the cover havin'g grooves in it,- marked M, said grooves being sufficiently wide, and the lips. of the groovessufliciently prominent, to hold a packing of clay and putty mixed,

' or other suitable material, to make a tight joint,-to prevent the gas from escaping, or leaking from one partition to the other.

Then, at the rear end, fig. 6, the partitions N P come through flush with the end, and the partitions O Q are from four to eight inches shorter, leaving a connecting space from lite E- audF to G.

When. the cover, fig. 5, is placed to close the end, so-

curcd in its place by a bar marked K, fig. 1, the straight grooves M, in the cover L fig. 5, corrcspond to and fit over the partitionsmarked N 'P, figufi, and the triangular grooves. marked M, fig. 4, correspond to and lit. over the partitions N O, fig. 3.

N ow we will suppose t 1e'retort placed in a proper furnace, with the oovers'luted and in position on both ends of the retort, heldin their places by the bars,

"marked K, as shown at fig. 1, \fith the inlet-siphon pipe, marked 0, in its place, entering chamber l),'-as shown at fig. 3, and fig.2, and fig. 1, with the outlet pipe, marked H, as shown in fig. 3, and fig. 2-, and fig.

1, which outlet-pipe leads tothe gas-holder, (not shown.) I will proceed to show how 1 make gas. I first heat my retort'to an intense red heat. I then introduce a stream of petroleum through -the siphdnG into the chamber D, at the fi'ontend of the retort, fig. 3. The petroleum passes the whole length of the retort, to the other end, fig. (3, when it passes around the-end of the partition 0, down to the chamber E, through the chamber E, the length of the retort, to the front end again. Thence, around thepartitio-n P, at thcfront, to the chamberF;- through the chamber F the length of the retort, to the rear endagain,fig. 6. Thence, up-

.ward, around the partition Q, into the chamber G. Thence, through the chamber G, the length of the retort, to the front, then out, through the outlet-pipe H. The petroleum, in its circulation through the retort, backward and forward, becomes changed, and finally passes out of the outlet-pipe H in the form of gas, to the holder, without leaving any residuum except a-little free carbon, which may be removed periodically by taking off one or both the lids. lmakc the retort with two lids, as described,.for greater facility of casting it and the partitions perfectly, and for facility of cleaning.

Claims. I

1. I claim the construction of retort with partitions, so as to make a fourfold retort, as described.

2. I claim the construction of the chambers, to allow a free circulation from one end to the other, backward and forward, and forward and backward,'for this purpose, as described.

3. I claim the grooves on the lid of the retort, for

the purpose of connecting the separate chambers.

J. W. Foocrn, Srnon Donne. 

